I am very happy to welcome Steve Marcus to the Wessex Tubas team as Manager, Customer Services.

Over the last 7 years Wessex has grown at such a rate that I have become aware that of recent response to enquiries has not always been as prompt as we would like to provide, and the service our customers rightly expect, so I welcome Steve who has more than 35 years of experience in the wholesale and retail areas of the musical instrument industry.

Steve's educational training (B.M.Ed. summa cum laude and M.M. [ABT], Temple University Boyer College of Music) led to his years of teaching music K-12 in the Philadelphia and Pennsbury, PA School Districts. He also was granted a Graduate Teaching Fellowship in Music Theory.

Unlike many who were brought to the tuba by someone else, Steve dreamed of becoming a tuba player from the age of 3 when he stared at the sousaphone player in the circus band in the poster that hung beside his bed. Originally self-taught on the instrument, a move to Chicago bought the opportunity to study tuba privately with Rex Martin at Northwestern University, Roger Rocco, and other instructors. Steve performed in Master Classes for Kenneth Amis, Arnold Jacobs, R. Winston Morris, Sam Pilafian, Rolf Smedvig, and others.

Steve sat in one of the BBb Bass chairs with Chicago Brass Band (Co-Founder and tubist of the 10-piece ensemble), Prairie Brass Band (charter member) and Illinois Brass Band.

Steve is a member of the American Federation of Musicians and an alum of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. As well as being tubist, he is also a pianist, vocalist, and choral conductor.

Located in Chicago, Steve Marcus will be helping customers from around the world. He can be contacted direct on +1 (616)-843-6888 or by emailing SteveM@Wessex-Tubas.com" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

What's with the discriminatory hiring practices of Wessex Tuba in the USA? It appears they only hire people (Andy & now Steve) who own Jumbo Sousaphones. You would have thought this practice of JSP (Jumbo Sousaphone Privilege) would have ceased in modern times.

Seriously - congratulations Steve! Does this mean you are completely out of the piano biz?

MDORVAL wrote:Congratulations Steve! Good for you and wish you the best of luck!

Thanks very much, Michel!

Once the BBb TE-693 Prokofiev is in, let us know!

Ahh, you are missing the big 5-valve Rudy Meinl 6/4 BBb that you sold! You would think that the party who purchased that huge beast would not remain anonymous, but he does (except, perhaps, among those who play in ensembles with him and that tuba).

The TE693 Prokofiev would, indeed, soothe your renewed desire for a 6/4 BBb with 5 independent valves. I am first in line for it once the production models are available, but I get bumped out of the queue because paying customers get priority. In fact, one or two well-known symphonic tubists who played the prototype have already told us that they want to buy a Prokofiev.

tofu wrote:What's with the discriminatory hiring practices of Wessex Tuba in the USA? It appears they only hire people (Andy & now Steve) who own Jumbo Sousaphones. You would have thought this practice of JSP (Jumbo Sousaphone Privilege) would have ceased in modern times.

When the founder of the company also has a Jumbo Sousaphone, hiring practices do become suspect, don’t they? Actually, Jonathan has his Conn 48K for sale:

Seriously - congratulations Steve! Does this mean you are completely out of the piano biz?

I can still refer piano buyers to a good solution for their search, or go with them to a piano store to help them select a piano. Also, on Sundays I serve as pianist/organist at Grace Anglican Fellowship. But I’ll be concentrating on tubas and other brass instruments now.

Will you have demo tuba stock in Chicago for area players to play?

Eventually, I will generally have one or two Wessex instruments under my care so that players can try them and I can take them to exhibitions, etc. For a wide choice of instruments to try in one visit, scheduling an appointment at Wessex’ Michigan location is the quiet, undisturbed way and visiting our exhibit would be another way (albeit slightly noisier).